Qualcomm unveils smartwatch

Tech giant aims to spark interest in advanced computing built into wearable devices

Rob Chandhok, President of Qualcomm Interactive Platforms uses the Toq, an always on smartwatch that can be viewed in bright sunlight. The watch was introduced at Qualcomm's Uplinq 2013 conference at the Embarcadero Wednesday morning.
— Howard Lipin

Rob Chandhok, President of Qualcomm Interactive Platforms uses the Toq, an always on smartwatch that can be viewed in bright sunlight. The watch was introduced at Qualcomm's Uplinq 2013 conference at the Embarcadero Wednesday morning.
— Howard Lipin

Your wristwatch should do more than just tell you the time. As least that’s what Qualcomm thinks.

The San Diego wireless giant said Wednesday that it will begin selling a watch that links wirelessly to users’ smartphones, allowing let them to control music or see who’s calling or texting without reaching into their pockets.

The company’s introduction of the Toq — pronounced “talk” — aims to spur interest in the new category of wearable devices. The announcement, at the company’s annual Uplinq conference, came on the same day that Samsung unveiled a similar device called the Galaxy Gear.

The so-called smartwatch is what some technology analysts believe could become this year’s must-have holiday gift.

“This smartwatch brings together a bunch of new technologies in a really cool package,” said Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs. “It’s the first color touch screen smartwatch that’s always on. Text messages, meeting reminders and other reminders just show up on your wrist.”

The watch connects to Android smartphones via a short-range wireless technology called Bluetooth.

In addition to displaying who is calling or texting — and letting users make canned responses — the watch also lets users choose to display stock prices or the weather or their daily calendar of meetings. Users can control music stored on their smartphones from their wrist, skipping songs or turning up the volume.

The premium version of the watch comes with Bluetooth earbud speakers.

“Really it’s a communication device designed not to replace your phone but to augment it by sending information to your wrist that is a subset of information you would normally look at on your phone,” said Rob Chandhok, president of Qualcomm Interactive Platforms.

Rumors had circulated for several months that Qualcomm was working on a smartwatch. In June, it filed a patent application for personal communications hub in the form of a wristwatch. And Jacobs was spotted wearing an unusual watch-like device at a conference in August.

Qualcomm doesn’t aim to sell tons of Toqs, which will cost $300 to $350 and go on sale this winter. Instead, it wants to show what wearable technologies can do.

“The wearable space is just beginning, where people are trying to figure out what we even mean by wearables,” Chandhok said. “We wanted to show that some wearables could have more interactivity than otherwise imagined.”

Samsung unveiled its digital wristwatch at least weeks ahead of a similar product expected from rival Apple. The electronics company says its device can act as an extension to a smartphone by discreetly alerting users to incoming messages and calls on its display screen, which measures 1.63 inches diagonally. The Gear also sports a basic camera and works with popular social media and fitness apps such as Twitter and RunKeeper.

The Android-powered device starts shipping in most countries Sept. 25 starting at $299. It will be compatible initially with two Samsung products also unveiled Wednesday — the Galaxy Note III, which is a smartphone with a giant 5.7-inch screen, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet computer with a 10.1-inch screen.